The Tale of the Star and the Bear
by Cinderpool-Beam Me Up Sokka
Summary: "How much someone can think is completely irrelevant to how much someone will think" "Like us?" "Just like us" "Thanks Kya"
1. Welcome

"We're off to see the Fire-Lord, the Fire-Lord of err… fire" Sokka sang, leaning from side to side and annoying his big furry seat.

"Sokka, we _know _who we're going to see", Toph nearly growled.

"Fine." He spoke, but sadly began to sing again "We're off to see the Fire-Lord's newborn daughter, the wonderful child of fire!" He sang the last word in a deep voice and drew it out. "Babies are so cute, as long as they're not being born" Momo chirped in seemingly agreement.

Everyone groaned, including Appa. Sokka stopped rambling about how he got boomerang back last week, now he's singing about someone he's never met.

Katara glared at her brother "Appa's working hard to fly us there, can't you just get off the cactus juice?

"Hmpf" Sokka snorted "You're just jealous of my musical abilities. I'm going to make sure little Ursa learns it from a true master."

"I wonder how Zuko will feel about that" Katara joked looking up at the sky with her head leaning against her finger.

"I don't wonder what _Mai _will think" Toph answered

#####

Team Avatar arrived at the Fire Nation Palace and was greeted by one of Zuko's many servants, Pachi, a middle-aged man with a long bead and a strange accent. "Fire-Lord Zuko is in one of the inner rooms. Go down the hallway five doors, make a left, then a right, then two lefts, then a right then go past two hallways before making a U-Turn when you see the opaque statue with exactly twenty-seven point two arms, take five lefts turns, two right turns, then go up the stairs to your left, go down seventeen dorrs until you reach the cross-hallways in which you should go to the fourth one from the right, after that - Oh never mind, follow me."

They followed Pachi down an extremely complicated path that made Toph wonder how long he could gone on explaining how to get to Zuko. Sokka and Aang were wondering if the palace's kitchen were stocked with fire candy. Katara was excited to see the new baby; it had been a year and a half since she'd delivered one herself.

They caught Zuko by surprise. He was working in a dimly lit room on a book with magnifying glasses and plenty of other small gadgets scattered across his desk. "Uh hello. I guess you're here to see Ursa?" He stood up from his chair rather clumsily "Sorry, uh I just lost track of time" His hair was disheveled and had nothing holding it up, and his robes were on the back of his chair wearing nothing but an undershirt and pants. He was not the happy new father image.

"Zuko, is something bothering you?" Katara asked, preparing to try to argue it out of him

Zuko looked to the side, but then turned his head to talk with them "This book is my mother's. I was looking for an old scroll that my mother used to read to me for Ursa, but instead I found this, but I can't open it" he began to yell "no matter what I try!" He took a deep breath and started to pace "I know she wants me to read it" he grabbed the book off the table "Her note says: Zuko, Azula this world is taking a turn for the worse, whether you can open this or not is directly related to if it gets better, I bet this will tell me where she is. "

Zuko sat down once more and rubbed his temples "I should be happy. I'm the Fire-Lord, I have a beautiful wife and kids"

His friends looked concerned, except Sokka who had something else on his mind and this time it wasn't fire candy. "Zuko, let me see that book"

"What do you think you can do about it?"

"Just trust me"

Zuko handed the book over and Sokka took an odd looking key out of his left shoe.

"Sokka that's..."

The key fit.


	2. The Visiting Dragon

Ch.2

"…mother's key." Kataara gasped.

"Why would _your _mother have a key to open up _my _mother's book?" Everyone looked at each other, except Toph, who looked pretty damn shocked all the same. "What are you waiting for, open it!"

Sokka did just that, the first page was a title that read _The Tale of the Star and the_ _Bear_ and everyone gathered round.

"Excuse me, but I'm blind"

She didn't even have to say that because Kataara slowly spoke the title, "The Tale of the Star and the Bear…wow" Kataara reached from beside Sokka to turn the page and there was an illustration of two women who appeared to be the previous owners of the book and the key, happy and smiling in front of a Maapple tree.

The page to the right appeared to be a diary entry of some sort and was written in precise black-ink handwriting. Sokka began to read

"76 ASC, Twenty-Ninth Day

Dear piece of paper, when did I first meet Ursa? When she

* * *

fell off a dragon and into the water. I imagine it must have been one of the last ones, and it sure didn't like her. When such a thing occurs to someone while they're sitting in a small canoe I did what was natural, I paddled over to the spot she fell (and currently yelling "I _can't_ swim. Get me _outa_ here _damn it" _between splashes and gargles) and attempted to save her from her doom by reaching out my arm.

Of course, naturally, she pulled me under as well. She didn't understand the fact that when you're being rescued, you were in trouble, and when you're in trouble its best not to try to be a hero and pull yourself up. The frigid sea knocked the wind out of me, falling into the water wasn't something you got used to, born in an igloo or not.

I got my clarity back and actually caught a half decent look at the dragon-rider. Her hair jet-black and eyes topaz, with the exception of those, she didn't appear Fire-Nation at all, my original assumption. That contemplation would hopefully be later, as this girl seemed to be made of metal and was sinking fast. The bubbles that ran over me to the surface like schools of fish away from a sharkhen were only further agitated by the girl's helpless flailing around. Now would be a great time to suddenly develop how talk under water.

I thought that I couldn't save her, no matter how hard I tried. We were going further down and I knew I had to get out of her grasp soon or we would both be dead, with no option left to turn to, I let her go. She held on.

Tightly.

She stopped moving around so much and the fear in her eyes that were easily visual didn't help me a lot, or at all for the matter. I was dying with a Fire-Nation imbecile. I racked my brain for solutions, then I noticed the way her boots sank, they were the cause. Her hands were latched onto mine so I couldn't just swim down to take of her boots, I had to grab onto her clothing and bring myself down to take off her boots.

This, of course, freaked her out and she started struggling again, yet managed to still hold on to my hand. I have no idea how she could be minutes from death, and spaz out like that. Since going and taking the boots off failed, I decided I had to communicate with her what to do. I took off my own boot and shook it, at least I think I did, between the lack of oxygen and hypothermia setting in my memory became extremely vague from that point on. Somehow she got the point and I was able to drag her unconscious body up to the canoe.

I was shivering and my bootless foot was unfeelable. This was my entire fault. Now, we were both going to die, a slow horrible death. I had coughed up quite a bit of water, but she was far worse off. We were doomed and I was exhausted, but going out with some dignity is better than none. She was lying on her back; I pulled her up with her posterior facing me. I attempted to get the water out by hitting her gut*****.

I lay down once I had done all I could to save her, part of me wishes I didn't succeed then. Spy, fire-nation soldier, both, or whatever she was she deserved to live, but I didn't deserve to die. Minutes passed and I was curled up in a ball freezing to death. It was tough, but I stumbeled up to try to paddle my way home. Take the left ore, push, don't drop the left ore, put it down, take the right ore, push, don't drop the right ore, I repeated those step in my mind until I heard a groan.

"Uhh…" She looked up at me drearily "You saved…my life"

"Yes, I did" I wanted to ask her why she'd been sent to the South Pole, but I didn't feel I should, or be able to struggle to.

"Well" she tried to sit up "Don't you have fires in South Pole?"

My eyes narrowed, but I then I realized she might be a fire-bender. "Are you are a fire-bender?"

"What would make you say that, Her-"

"You're spying on our city with a dragon that just threw you into the ocean"

"Spying? I was on my way to see what was on the other side of the South Pole and I couldn't have made it there without-"

"Oh so you were looking for volcanoes to obliterate our culture with?"

"Firebenders don't have that much control over vaul canoes, oh grea-"

"Vaul Canoes?"

"Yes, my sincere apologies, but you were the one who suggested it"

"I said volcanoes"

"Yeah, vaul canoes"

I sounded out the word volcanoes for her, but she still looked just as puzzled.

"You really should work on that accent."

"Listen spy, I don't have any time for your jokes, just light a fire before-"I was too confused, too angry with myself to observe the fact that she was perfectly dry. I frowned; Fire-Lord Azulon really out-did himself, hiring a professional torturer to spy. Why did I even ask for fire?

"Oh I'm sorry I can't believe I forgot about you!" She lit a part of the boat aflame.

"What are you doing!"

"Keeping you warm, hero!"

"I don't know how this works in the Fire-Nation but you _don't light wooden boats on fire!"_

She extinguished it. "Sorry your greatness-"

"Stop saying things like that"

"Like what?"

"Things like 'Your greatness' or 'hero'"

"What should I call you then?"

I paused for a moment, but I decided that it wouldn't matter if she knew my name, unless the Fire-Lord had some vendetta against me, in which case I would be completely screwed anyway. "Kya"

"I'm Ursa!" I frowned.

"Oh yes! You have hypothermia. She closed her eyes then stretched arms out and brought them together in front of her. She looked dangerous. I had the urge to jump into the icy water away from her. She lifted her arms up and then took them apart with the back of her hands facing me. Suddenly I was surrounded by flames.

"_Agh!" _

The wall of flames disappeared and I was dry. This was going to be one hell of a trip home, I thought. Generally speaking, I was good at making predictions.

* * *

**My apologies to my dear, only reviewer! I meant to have it up earlier. Thank you subscribers, as well. I hope you enjoy the story, and vote on the poll on my profile about avatar fics. I made a few minor changes to the first chapter that will hopefully make it feel less rushed, do you think it feels rushed or am I imagining things?  
**

***heimlich maneuver**


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